On God Complex and such things..
This post has been in the making for at least 9 years.
But the seeds for this post were sown some 22 years back. In 2002.
Scratch that. 31+ years back. In 1992.
To be specific, on December 6, 1992.
For all these years, I have never been sure how to express my exact feelings, anger, and sadness. To be honest, I am still not sure. India is my country of birth and that’s where I spent the first twenty fives years of life. Even today, much of my family is very much rooted in India and I continue to take great pride when India or Indians accomplish something — be it in sports, arts, science, technology, etc. Amidst all the many positive transformations that have been taking place in India over the past several decades, there is also something else that has been happening in India. Something else that has been changing. As an outsider for the last 25 years, this transformation is more evident to me than what perhaps it would have been otherwise. And it alarms me every single day.
This change — this basic and complete upending of what I always proudly associated with being an Indian was, has been becoming more and more prominent in the past nine years. If you are not sure of what this transformation is or if you have never felt it, then it is because you have been sucked into that bubble rather unwittingly. Much like how crores of Indians have been sucked into. This transformation has been happening at a micro socio-structural level and perniciously, at a more individual mindset level too, causing relationships and friendships to break with more personal hatred setting in. At first, when these changes started exposing the deep-rotten petty minds of a few of my family and friends, I was repulsed and tried to shrug it off as an exception. I was in denial. Then over the past five or six years, it has become very clear to me that this rot is for real, and I underestimated how far this toxicity has spread and how deep it has gone into the fabric of what I remember India to be.
How can you not be sad and angry when you see your beloved country transform right in front of your eyes?
How can you not be upset when you see friends and family members transform into those with radical and extremist majoritarian worldview?
So, where do I start?
Like many like me who are angry and upset, I could start with “This is not the India I grew up in..”.
Maybe that’s exactly where I will start.
This is not the India I remember growing up in. This most definitely is not.
India is leaping into theocracy much faster than I feared. In 2014, when the country chose to elect a self-proclaimed supervisor of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, someone whom the US once denied a visa for severely violating religious freedom, as angry and disappointed I was, I reconciled and assumed that this Indian voter judgement came from a moment of despair for nepotism and corruption.
How wrong was I!!
Imagine a country where hospitals choose to shut down their operations partially in order to encourage its doctors, first-responders, nurses, employees, and patients on their deathbeds with ventilators to celebrate the installation of a statue — i.e. the consecration of the statue of Ram Lalla (infant Ram) in a partially constructed temple at a controversial site.
Imagine a country where the central government issues an official circular asking all central government offices to be shut down for an event that has zero significance to the economic growth of the country. An event whose only purpose is to reopen the wounds and scars of 1992 and 2002, and to rub it onto the minority population that this country now belongs to a Hindu majority.
Imagine a country where the union finance minister would go on social media to blatantly spread misinformation and falsely accuse a state government ruled by an opposition party, for being anti-Hindu because they have chosen not to declare a state holiday on the said date when the above mentioned drama in the name of a religion would take place. When there is no evidence or proof for any of her gaslighting.
Imagine a country where private corporations are forced to show their unrelenting support to this farce of an event by organizing celebratory poojas, circulating posters and social media posts praising Ram, and in some cases even making the viewing of the ceremony mandatory during work hours, by planning to stream the event live in their offices.
All of the above is happening today in India.
The sole objective of the so called consecration ceremony of a half-built temple (the very premise of such has been questioned even by a few Hindu scholars and prominent Hindu leaders, including Shakaracharyas) at this point is very clear. To exalt and elevate the image of one man — the self-anointed savior of India — the chosen one, right before the upcoming general elections.
If you have paid attention to the Indian media in the past month or so, you would have observed this. In the past month, the Indian media (print, TV, social, etc.) has bombarded us with images portraying the nation’s chosen leader overshadowing even divine figures (did you see the poster depicting India’s dear Supreme Leader guiding toddler Ram Lalla to the temple, for instance?). This spectacle prompts serious contemplation on the central figure and his psyche, and more importantly, the psyche of the supporting characters in this grand celebration of the Ram Mandir.
Let’s set aside the divine from this sacrilegious comparison or false equivalence for a second. There is proof that this narcissistic self-anointed man, who is driving India to its lowest of lows, called himself the chosen one. I am not kidding. In a special audio message released on January 12, announcing a unique ritual preceding the grand event — an 11-day ‘anushsthan’ — this man, the sole savior Hinduism, let us call him Cameracharya, the Prime Minister of a union government, which as far as I know is still officially secular, boldly asserted, “God (no less) has chosen me to represent the people of India during pran pratishta.” These are not my words. These are his words. Following this proclamation, modern India’s Iron Man, now a compliant supporter and a yes-man, publicly declared that Modi had been selected by Lord Ram to preside over the consecration of the Ram Mandir.
Let there be no misunderstanding; India is witnessing an extraordinary human phenomenon challenging conventional norms of leadership. Self-awareness, humility, and respectfulness as personal traits, the notion that the Prime Minister is merely first among equals, collective decision-making, team spirit, and empowering delegation — all qualities of leadership — are disdainfully cast aside by Modi and for Modi by his supporters. Over the past nine years, the entire political landscape — both individuals and institutions — has obediently orbited around this superhuman figure.
What is unfolding across India is an extreme deification of a single person. His followers perceive him as various divine entities — Lord Shiva, an avatar of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna, even the 11th avatar of Lord Vishnu. J.P. Nadda, the ultimate sycophant, went to extremes, dubbing his leader as the king of Gods. Going beyond mere rhetoric, there exists a Modi temple in Gujarat’s Rajkot district, and, if media reports hold true, another one is in the works in Meerut, adorned with a towering 100-foot statue of Modi.
Again if you have been paying attention, the full force of the government has been harnessed to spotlight one man and his accomplishments — Modi’s promises, not those of the BJP — many of them embellished. Even egregious failures like demonetization and the mishandled pandemic response undergo a bizarre alchemical transformation into unqualified triumphs.
The recent bombshell is the NITI Aayog report claiming a drastic reduction in poverty levels. Through statistical maneuvering, eloquently termed “magical realism” by a commentator, multidimensional poverty is purported to have plummeted from 29.1% in 2013–14 to 11.28% in 2022–23, ostensibly lifting around 24.82 crore people out of poverty. With the truth undermined and the line between fact and fantasy blurred, India’s Supreme Leader confidently parades one falsehood after another. On the topic of magical realism and fudging numbers, I highly recommend this book, Whole Numbers and Half-Truths by Rukmini S. This book came out in 2022, is 100% data-driven, and it mostly covers only the first term of this government. I wonder if the author has to write a sequel to the book how much more untruths would she uncover.
Another small digression while we are on the topic of books.
I also recommend this book which uses data to underscore the disaster this Modi government has been for the country (contrary to the magical realism you get to see on WhatsApp forwards and social media updates). The book is titled, Price of the Modi Years by Aakar Patel. Do check it out.
Back to where I left off.
In the relentless government propaganda promoting our singular glamorized deity, nothing is more blatant than the legislated decree — clearly aimed at fostering cult worship — directing universities and Indian Railways to establish selfie-points with pictures of the Prime Minister at select locations and stations, ostensibly allowing us to bask in reflected glory. And one concerned citizen requested the Indian Railways to provide the cost breakdown of these selfie-points (under RTI) and when he got the information, he was shocked. What happened next after he shared the data on social media is now recorded in the history books.
Army personnel heading on leave and various government officials receive official instructions to trumpet the achievements of the Modi government. The ubiquitous influence extends to India’s COVID vaccination certificates and the distributed 5 kg rice bags, both adorned with the Supreme Leader’s trademark picture.
Not only the government but also the whole political party, BJP, has succumbed to cult worship. All other leaders of the party, including L.K. Advani, former deputy PM and ex-Home Minister, and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been overshadowed. Potential competitors like Nitin Gadkari, Ajay Singh Bisht, Shivraj Chauhan, and Vasundhara Raje Scindia have been relegated to insignificance. The appointment of obscure figures as chief ministers in the three states recently won by the BJP conveys a clear message — it is one man and one man alone who secures victories for the BJP. Everyone else is expendable.
What we witness today in India is not merely a leader in a heightened state of self-love or self-absorption; there’s a suspicion of a deeper pathology identified by psychoanalysts as narcissism. As an avid follower of American politics, I am familiar with this mental instability and how it can plague politicians. I have also known one person who exhibits all qualities of a narcissistic sociopath, who managed to become the President of this country in 2016.
So, I do know a thing or two about how equally unsettling it is to find out about the ignoble servitude of millions of devotees in the country ensnared by a consummate artist such as Modi. Should we call them cult members? Sure. But it is not enough if we just label them. There is something deeply troubling when you start finding out that some of your friends and family members are also part of this cult. You want to know how this happened. You want to know if you were in a state of disillusionment all these years, believing in an India that drew its strength from its multitudinous society and in its pluralities of her people. Or you want to know if something truly has changed.
What does a narcissistic mind need to survive? What does it feed on to reach a point of attaining god complex? The answer lies in its symbiotic connection with people who are ready to serve and be submissive to the said narcissistic individual. Let’s call them the submissive “masochistic” devotees. India is perhaps a land of perplexing idol worship. That in itself is a great topic for psychologists and for the purpose of this post, I will stay away from that although I strongly feel that may have a significant connection to the prevailing Modi worship and the masochistic devotees in India.
It is well known that human beings are social animals. And human sanity hinges on connections and communion with others. A narcissist achieves this transcendence of his lonely individual existence and god complex by dominating, while the devotee achieves it through submission. It’s almost like for the submissive masochist to survive, he needs a dominant leader who will invariably be a narcissist. However, in this mutual feeding process, both lose their integrity and freedom, along with the capacity for the passion that fosters solidarity — love and empathy.
In simpler terms, the narcissist fails to cultivate the capacity for love because, for him, “there is only one reality, that of his own thought processes, feelings, and needs.” Emotionally stunted, the narcissist perceives external phenomena solely through the lens of their utility or threat to him.
What’s disconcerting is the transformation I have seen in India in the past nine years. Gradually, more and more Indians have become submissive masochists through the one thing that connects them —their majoritarian religion and hence an overwhelming majority has enthusiastically embraced the supreme leader’s overbearing narcissism and sophistry. Someone will be writing a book soon (or is already writing one) about how this man has managed to spread his dominance in the psyche of so many Indians and how he has now become the chosen one who singlehandedly accelerated India’s leap from being a secular democracy to a majoritarian theocracy.
I have no problems with Hindus who want to celebrate the installation of a new statue and rejoice in the consecration ceremony of a new temple. In fact, I have no problems at all with it being a temple built (fully or half) for Ram. But I do have problems with it being a Ram temple built in Ayodhya at a disputed site — the site which saw a majoritarian mob murder 20 people of a different religion by demolishing another place of worship, a mosque. A demolition that was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court of India at one point of time, and a demolition which spawned into nationwide riots killing more than 2000 people. I do have problems with that.
We have a political party led by a man with god complex hijacking the entire religion in the name of a temple in Ayodhya. What we are seeing in Ayodhya may be the first real colonization of Hinduism by political power in modern India. Ayodhya’s Ram temple is a monument to exclusion. It is a gateway to brute majoritarianism subordinating others. Ram, who is not particularly the most popular Hindu deity of choice for those who live to the south of Vindhyas, has now been made a national symbol. According to them, Ram is the symbol of Hindu pride. He soon will become the ONLY symbol of Hindu pride and anyone who doesn’t say Jai Shri Ram will be deemed anti-Hindu. I am not sure if Ram himself would consent to being converted to something as banal and nasty as the symbol of an ethnic nationalism.
Any country or society that sets itself on a path of becoming a majoritarian theocracy, is setting itself on a path of downfall. Look around the world. Are there are any developed countries in the world that have emphatically embraced majoritarian theocracy and have still managed to remain the beacon of freedom and democracy? Have you counted? I will wait.
Modi getting reelected in 2024 is now more or less a foregone conclusion. But the rot can still be stopped if even today, enough Indians come out of their WhatsApp worldview and see the poison Indian society has become. More importantly, those who see the circus and laugh at it, should instead be angry about it. Every Indian who normalizes the fascist transformation of Indian society through majoritarianism by doing nothing or laughing at it must acknowledge the dangers and speak out. And that is only possible if they shed their majoritarianism cloak for a minute and see India’s backsliding through a minority viewpoint. Then, they will hopefully see how far has India has slid into authoritarianism and religious extremism. And why it must be stopped.
I do want to see and be proud of my India like how I used to. And for that more people should remember these Shakespearean lines uttered by Cassius on how Julies Caesar became so powerful and why he must be stopped.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings…”
In other words, know your power.
Don’t be an underling.
Don’t blame fate.
Blame yourself.
Take responsibility for your choices and place.
